Just posted this evening. It's... incredibly intriguing and weird, but it's also really frustrating to play and immensely difficult on TC, and I want whoever it is to show themselves cause I got some questions for you bud.

Gave it a spin after fixing the MML. Impressions thus far, under the spoiler tag (which you should not peek at until you've played a bit yourself):

Spoiler:

The art and sound direction are giving me serious Yume Nikki vibes. Something about the terminals which are just un-lucid enough to unnerve, as well; maybe it's what YM's dialogue would be like if it had any. It's all incredibly creepy and I approve.

Also, I suspect that "obedience test" Salve mentions at the start of "Frosted Palace of Enzyme" doesn't actually exist. Or maybe said "test" involves cleaning out the rest of the level first? Something tells me that Salve's advice will be less than helpful.

I'm not gonna lie, I do kinda like it; it's pretty novel for Marathon and the sound design is really good. The actual execution is a little obnoxious and unrefined at times (and it's really hard on TC) but I can't say that it's derivative.

It's an interesting scenario for sure. I've just gotten past the level with the trees. I think there's some really high points, but some really low points too. I get the feeling that it's not 100% finished, but the creator just figured it was close enough. I don't know if I'll finish playing it; the texturing and repetitive sounds are starting to give me a headache.

There's some really great moments of level design though, but I almost didn't notice them because of the garish lighting and texturing. It's also sometimes really hard to navigate a level because of the visual design. The story oscillates between pretty engaging and interesting, to making me sigh and roll my eyes.

Definitely made me feel anxious and uncertain through most of the playtime.

Spoiler:

I'm a big fan of the low grav level where you can fly with the triple fusion. It was a lot of fun and really changed the way I mentally mapped the level. If I play further I hope there are more fun mechanics/weapons.

I just beat Casualties of the Wingding Zone, and it was a real pain, lots of obnoxiousness in this one. If anyone needs help with that level let me know.

Spoiler:

Although I'm still not 100% certain how I managed to open the door to the Foot Switch. Possibly by jumping over/into a pool of slime? Doesn't help that some doors will only open partway, so you have to reload a save and try again.

I don't think it appears in this level, if I remember correctly.[/quote]

2) By what method am I expected to go outside and talk with AIN? Haven't been back to the area with lots of white marble(?) yet, but maybe pressing a switch on the upper levels opened a door there?

I think the green switch opens up a secret door on the West side of the big lava pool in the center of the map. The door is down near the surface of the lava, you can see some triangular "stairs" carved into the wall.

For reference on my progress, I've hit a green switch, another normal-looking one nearby, and been to the empty Spring Icon shrine.

I think you're almost finished. If you've gotten the rocker launcher and the assault rifle I think you've just got maybe five minutes of play left.

Anyone get past Wholley Hannah? I am pretty certain that it's glitched out and I won't be able to beat it.

Spoiler:

I got the Spring Icon and some other pickup, but I can't insert the Icon into its underwater slot. Can't break the Xontrol access panel. I am able to access and break Xontrol switch #1, but can't access Xontrol switch #2. Can light one of the monkey eyes.

Or hours. It took me forever, wandering around until I finally noticed that passage to the outside. Maybe not as long as it took me to find the switch to the AR though.

Spoiler:

I gotta admit--without that pointer from Philtron, I'm not sure I would've found that passage as quickly as I did; it's not obvious unless you're looking at it head-on, which requires standing on the triangle stairs. Only other hint was remembering Ashita or Salve mentioning something about it.

Currently up to "Casualties of the Wingding Zone". This may get difficult.

Only just started. I have to admit it took me forever just to find the recharger and pattern buffer on "Frosted Palace of Enzyme", and the Enforcers and those weird fusion monsters that look like they're from Pathways (or are they from Pathways? I haven't played enough of it to know the whole bestiary) have killed me several times. This isn't quite as hard as Phoenix yet, but then, I'm also not very far into it; I definitely don't remember dying this much in Phoenix's first few levels. I also can't make heads or tails out of the terminal instructions right now, though that might just be exhaustion from work. I'm about to crash; I'll give it another go tomorrow.

Despite that, this is incredibly unique in a wonderful way. I haven't taken psychedelics, but the visual appearance of this scenario is what I imagine they'd feel like.

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

“The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain. If you can’t lick ’em, join ’em. If it hurts, repeat it. But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else. We have almost lost hold; we can no longer describe happy man, nor make any celebration of joy.” —Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the scenario isn't finished. I still don't know how to beat Hannah, but I did figure out the Footswitch issue on Wingdings. Advice: Only press a switch ONCE. At least one switch (the one to the Footswitch door, the door up the snow stairs and to the left down a long hall) can be pressed multiple times but its graphic doesn't change the second time.

I think this happens because pressing the switch not only opens a door but I suspect also drops a platform in front of the switch to give the illusion that its graphic has changed; but since the platform isn't floor-to-ceiling your "touch" actually goes through the platform and activates the switch again and thus closes the door. Or maybe it's a glitch. Either way, while playing I would hit the switch multiple times because I couldn't remember whether it was activated and so the door in question would open and close and then open and close.

By using the level skip it seems Wholley Hannah may be the last full level. The rest are small levels that experiment with player physics, and then the very last level which has a chapter screen (Chapter 2!) but is untextured and clearly unfinished. I suspect that Wholley Hannah may be unbeatable; I'll take another stab at it another time, though, just to be safe.

edit:Also, the terminal instructions are in some ways more confusing, but in some ways more straightforward than the traditional Marathon instructions. The narrative context may be obfuscated, but this just makes the instructions that much more mundane, since without context the instructions are just: go here, press this switch, pick this up.

And in all fairness, this scenario does a better job of conveying the sense of an incomprehensible conflict, being fought according to unknowable rules, and taking place between inscrutable AI better than any other Marathon scenario has.

I don't know why I keep gnawing away at this scenario. Finally beat Hannah. My first playthrough I couldn't insert the spring icon into its insert slot for some reason; second playthrough I took a different route and managed to get through. The only thing I can think of is you're not supposed to go through the Liquid Display Room, I think going that route messes something up so you can't beat the level anymore. In the room with the first save terminal, on the north side there's a door that opens up if you walk on a specific tile; that's the route your supposed to take. My first time around I basically went backwards and that must have glitched something out.

Hannah leads to a weird physics level with a message from someone named Forrest (although I don't know if it's the same Forrest from the Marathon story forum). Then that leads to the start of chapter two and the final level which is completely untextured and I presume unfinished (I guess since this download is called Chapter 1 that should have been obvious).

There's also some messages and musings from the creator of the scenario.

Last edited by philtron on May 17th '18, 03:51, edited 1 time in total.

philtron wrote:Hannah leads to a weird physics level with a message from someone named Forrest (although I don't know if it's the same Forrest from the Marathon story forum).

You know I am that Forrest from the MSF, right?

I have nothing to do with this scenario but now I'm curious about it and wondering if the Forrest in that terminal is supposed to be a parody of me? I don't have time to play it but could you copy the terminal text for me to see?

Ha, yeah I guess I did know that, I don't know why I wrote it the way I did. It was late at night and I was tired.

And if you're not associated with the scenario then I doubt this has anything to do with you. The terminal in question just has a photo of a young man with glasses in a pub/bar/restaurant with a glass of beer. He is apparently named Forrest. He asks you to find his friend's lost cat and gives you some basic directions. Then you follow his directions, do some physics gymnastics, find a terminal with a cat photo and you're taken to the next level. So, it doesn't seem like it's meant to parody or mock anybody; seems like this was just a friend of the author's and she put him in the scenario for fun.

philtron wrote:The terminal in question just has a photo of a young man with glasses in a pub/bar/restaurant with a glass of beer. He is apparently named Forrest. He asks you to find his friend's lost cat and gives you some basic directions. Then you follow his directions, do some physics gymnastics, find a terminal with a cat photo and you're taken to the next level.

Sure it is. You can even hear the platform open. It's in the immediate area as the multidimensional crow flies, just not as the player walks.

EDIT I've found the non-acrobatic way out, so nevermind what was here before. However, the switches seem to be buggy, so consider acrobatics if you get stuck, or if you are too squeamish to interact with them. Even with acrobatics, however, there is one eye you must open.